1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gable clamp device for brick masons. More specifically, the invention relates to a gable clamp device which may be used with any size roof overhang to hold a mason's guide line at a desired level while a bricked-in gable is being constructed.
2. Description of Related Art
When constructing a bricked-in gable, it is desirable to use a level line extending from end to end of each course of bricks to be laid to insure that each course of bricks is laid evenly with no uneven widths of mortar and without wavy horizontal lines. Many devices for holding such a line, often called a mason's guide line, are known. These include apparatuses in which pairs of devices are attached to the gable face boards on opposite sides of the gable to hold a mason's guide line therebetween and devices which attach to the bricks at opposite ends of each course to hold a mason's guide line therebetween.
However, none of these discloses a device for holding a mason's guide line which utilizes a pair of angle irons adapted to be attached to the underside of the gable and a pair of modified gable clamps that may be clamped to the gable face boards or to the angle irons.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,778, issued Apr. 12, 1954 to Joseph A. Snyder, shows a device for holding a mason's guide line that utilizes a pair of line holding apparatuses which are slidably mounted in trackways attached to the gable face board. The '778 device has the disadvantage that when it is used with a gable with a large roof overhang, the mason's guide line will be held a considerable distance in front of each course of bricks thereby making it more difficult to lay each course of bricks evenly. The gable clamp device of the present invention solves this problem by utilizing angle irons that are adapted to be attached to the underside of the gable at a small distance from the wall being bricked-in so that the gable clamps attached to the angle irons hold the mason's guide line very close to each course of bricks as they are laid.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,809,434 (Cordier), 2,991,557 (Bongiovanni), and 3,571,931 (Williams) show devices for holding a mason's guide line that utilize pairs of clamps which are adapted to be attached to the gable face boards on opposite sides of the gable so that they may hold a mason's guide line therebetween. These devices are also impractical to use with a large roof overhang because they attach to the gable face boards which are the part of the gable most distant from the wall being bricked-in.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,125,162 (Prebeck), 5,129,150 (Sorensen), and 5,392,523 (Hurt), show apparatuses for holding mason's guide lines that utilize devices which are adapted to attach directly to previously laid courses of bricks at opposite ends thereof so that they may hold a mason's guide line therebetween. Unlike the present invention, these devices have the disadvantage that they may not be used to help insure that the first course of bricks laid is even and level with the necessary result that subsequent courses of bricks will not be level.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a gable clamp device solving the aforementioned problems is desired.